Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Hollies have been around for 50 consecutive years, although drummer Bobby Elliott and lead guitarist-harmony vocalist Tony Hicks are the only original members left in the band. The current lineup has been together since 2004, when lead vocalist-guitarist Peter Howarth replaced the late/great Carl Wayne. Wayne had replaced Allan Clarke, a founding member, in 2000. Guitarist-vocalist Steve Lauri also joined around 2004, and while bassist-vocalist Ray Stiles and keyboards player Alan Parker may not be original members, they have been on board for several years. The Hollies still tour constantly in Europe, and all of those performances have made them a tightly knit, entertaining band.

Live Hits!, recorded during last year’s UK tour, was mixed and produced with no additional overdubs by Grammy Award winning producer, Paul Hicks, Tony’s son. It captures the exuberance of a Hollies concert, especially on songs like “I Can’t Let Go,” “Just One Look,” and “Stay.” There are also faithful, highly polished versions of “Bus Stop,” “Jennifer Eccles,” “He Aint Heavy, He's My Brother,” and a guitar-fortified “On A Carousel.”

Judging from this 2-CD set, The Hollies have an adventurous set list for their live shows, ranging from early songs like the gospel-influenced “Very Last Day” and Beatlesque “Yes I Will,” to the autobiographical title track from their 2010 CD, Then, Now, Always. There’s a heartfelt rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Sandy,” which The Hollies first covered on Another Night back in 1975, and the band touches on its most psychedelic era with Graham Nash’s ambitious “King Midas In Reverse.” A few choices are questionable; “The Day Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee” has always seemed like a poor imitation of “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress” and any number of tracks would have been better than the silly folk standard “Stewball.”

Adding to the variety of material is The Hollies’willingness to reinvent some of their classic hits. Howarth’s acoustic rendition of “I Can’t Tell The Bottom From The Top” underscores the song’s soaring melody, and “Stop Stop Stop” is given a rousing instrumental intro. The original British Invasion gem “Look Through Any Window” gets a slower, harmony-filled arrangement ala Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Howarth engages the audience on a rowdy “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress.”

Live Hits! gives us non-Europeans a good idea of what The Hollies are up to these days, but it’s high time some promoter found a way for them to tour in America again.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.